Most Effective Way to Handle Problems

From: The Way Out Book, p.42

It is possible for you to lift out of your present level of consciousness into other, higher levels of consciousness. This can be challenging, though, if you have not considered the possibility before.

Often you must have a key given to you, a door pointed out, a keyhole or a doorknob brought to your attention. Then it is up to you to take action.

If you don’t do anything, then you sit with the keys, the information, the knowledge and the wherewith-all to change your life. But nothing will happen unless you do it. Let’s look at the factor of “not doing” for a moment:

1. You may often find yourself making decisions by default. This is when you won’t make a decision “for” or “against” and then find a decision forced upon you from outside of yourself.

2. You may not be too happy about that type of decision, but if you will not take action, action will be forced upon you.

3. Too often you become hesitant about making a wrong decision — if any decision can be called “wrong.” In reality, there are no wrong decisions.

Through all my experience of working with people in both this level and other levels of consciousness, I have found that there is no wrong decision except as people label it “wrong.”

After you have decided on something, you can look at that decision, that movement or direction, as a lesson, simply a lesson, a problem-solving technique. If it solves the problem, then you are content with the decision. If it does not, you make another decision. Whichever way your decision leads you, it is a positive action because it promotes direction and forward movement.

When you can’t see your way out of a problem, when you can’t see a direction, when you can’t make a decision, that’s when you feel “boxed in” or at the mercy of the circumstances. And this brings in frustration and a feeling of incapability.

A lot of people get stuck in this and label it an “inferiority complex.”

One man said to me, ”I have an inferiority complex.” I said, “Maybe it isn’t a complex!” He looked at that idea for a while and said, “Maybe it’s not.” I said, “Is it possible that in that particular area, you are inferior?” He thought about that and said, “Yes, I believe I am.” I said, “Then why don’t you work in an area where you are not inferior?”

He worked through that for awhile and decided that he would be better suited to another area. He moved to the new area and experienced much greater success. Then he worked on the weak area in his spare time until it was stronger also.

In other words, he accurately evaluated where his strengths were, utilized his strengths to their fullest potential, and worked on the weak areas to build them into strengths that could also be used to enhance his expression.

Too many times the “problem” is allowing a situation to come to you on the level of your weakness and then declaring it too much for you to handle. Then it represents a problem. It’s only a problem as far as you see it that way; someone else may look at it and perceive the solution immediately.

Many times what you are looking at as a problem isn’t a problem at all, but an expression. When you perceive it as an expression and see that there are many alternative ways to express, you have a way to move through it and change it to another expression.

If you look at life as being a ladder, you can visualize each “problem” as a rung in that ladder. If you take away the problem, you may take away your potential growth. You learn from your experiences, and often you learn more from your negative experiences than your positive experiences. Those experiences that hit at you and shake you are often most effective areas of learning.

You all know the good times you’ve had. Look at all the time you’ve wasted trying to have a good time. And what did you really accomplish? Didn’t the good times appear spontaneously? Didn’t they just appear in the course of your living? You moved through them very fluidly and joyfully.

How about the bad times? Can’t you almost remember who said what to whom and what the whole situation was about? Can’t you feel the hurt and the turmoil in your stomach? Yes, because you may be learning and remembering more through the negative process. But if you can use that negative process as a stepping-stone, then has it really been negative? You have turned it into a positive action.

You surmount negativity by standing on the things that appear to be negative and using them to lift you higher. The “problem” is still there; you just shift your consciousness in relation to it and start rising above it and discovering that YOU are greater than any “problem” and that YOU have the keys to solve all “problems.” As soon as you realize there is an answer to every problem, it becomes easier to find the answer.

Sometimes the answer is to do nothing, to hold steady, to make the decision not to move. A lot of times people get caught up in the need for action.

They say, ”I have to do something about this!” If asked why, they might say, “Because I just have to!” And that’s not necessarily a good answer. You might ask, “What if you do this?” They say, “That won’t work.” You say, “Okay, what if you do this?” They say, “That won’t work either.” So you say, “What if you just hold still?” Maybe they’re a little more receptive to that idea now. So they hold still, and that stillness allows the solution to come into their mind. They see their direction and are on their way. Then they say, “Thank God I didn’t do anything rash. It’s a good thing I didn’t make up my mind impetuously.”

Sometimes “decision by default” can be a good approach, and most of the time, because you are a directive force and energy in motion, it’s best to have conscious, directed movement.

It is your building action, It is your growth. As soon as you have declared an intent one way or the other, you put your energy into that decision. Then if it does not feel clear, you can reverse your decision and direct the energy another way.

If you don’t direct yourself, if you spend your time on a “tightrope,” you usually end up frustrated. It’s often necessary to make a movement. In such a situation, any decision you make, any direction you move, can be for your highest good, no matter what it is.

The important thing is that you can move forward, move up, and in that process of moving, you develop many self-correcting devices. You can constantly evaluate and change your direction, your movement, your decisions. One decision does not lock you in. And as you keep moving, nothing can stop you from moving your consciousness into higher and higher levels of awareness.